Common woods complemented by linseed oil finish

godogs57: Mora use boiled linseed oil on their birch handles. I like it.

eric brinkerhoff: Hickory, ash, and beech. Thanks.

Britt_Askew: I just looked online and found a photo of walnut finished with boiled linseed oil. I might use walnut. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Years ago I met Michael Louca, proprietor of Watson Bros gun makers, London, at a sporting show and got an invitation go visit their shop and pick through some of their walnut off-cuts.
While there I asked what they used on their stocks and was told it was a mix of boiled linseed, some thinner, some drier and beeswax, which they made themselves and which took many coats and much time to apply. Now, one can argue that there are "better" finishes for speed, or ease of application, and perhaps for out and out water resistance but it is hard to argue with the quality of the finish they got. I have used such a mix on a few knives and they have performed just fine. These days I tend to prefer Danish oil or TruOil, because it dries faster and doesn't require mixing, but I wouldn't say that BLO is a "never" finish, just that it is much improved with additives. Method of application of oil finishes is important. Just wiping some oil on for a day or two isn't going to work well. This is where other options are "better" than BLO because they penetrate more and dry quicker so a fugly finish can be achieved quickly.

I have done wet sanded oil finishes on walnut, maple, oak, birch, ash, osage and cherry, all with good results. Done right an oil finish is very tactile and looks great.
 
Not to wax pedantic, but 'boiled linseed oil' and 'linseed oil' are different. I don't use BLO at all, but mostly because I don't see a reason to buy/use incredibly toxic products when so many safe, natural options are out there. Simple linseed oil (flax) has been a superlative wood finish for centuries. It's commonly mixed with beeswax and citric acid to make a paste.
 
Ratatoskr: I know of the distinction. Maybe I ought to have added boiled to the thread title. In the past I have used raw linseed oil on its own for finishing wood and bare metal. I bought boiled this time due to the quicker drying time. Thanks for the paste recipe, I might try it.
 
Miden I think what he means when saying wet sanded is to use a piece of sandpaper when putting the oil on, sanding the oil creates a slurry and a nice finished product
 
Natural oiled walnut is beautiful.
If you take the time to fill the pores(by wet sanding) oak or bog oak can be beautiful as well
 
S ScottEnglish
Hi, Britt_Askew is right, by wet sanded I mean I used sand paper with oil to do the finishing sanding. I am pretty crude compared to the real craftsmen. There is a TON of info on refinishing gun stocks this way.

I start with 240 grit dry, then sand with oil and 240 grit. The initial coat needs frequent oil top up because it soaks in. With Danish oil I tend to apply the first coat liberally with a rag, let it dry, then start the wet sanding process. I sand till I get a muddy slurry, then let it sit for a few minutes until the slurry starts to set. How long that is is just a trial and error thing, it doesn't matter too much if you are a little early or a little late. Then wipe the remaining slurry off with a cloth, I am not too worried about getting all the streaks off on the early grits. I do two or three go rounds with the 240, then go to 400 a couple of times, 600 maybe twice, then 800, then 1200. As I get finer I don't leave much time between finishing sanding and wiping off. If dust/oil slurry sets and leaves streaks it isn't a problem if the next grit is 240 or 400 because you can sand off the streaks, but its a bit more of a problem if you are at 600 and up because at that grit you are not really removing high spots any more. I leave at least 12 hours between coats of Danish oil and can do TruOil a little quicker at the early grits, but tend to wait 24 hours between coats from 600 up. Longer time is better. I try to get most of the grain filled using the coarser grit.

All the best

Chris
 
Thanks Britt_Askew.

Hengelo_77: I will try to obtain some walnut. Thanks.

C_ Claycomb: Chris, you are a more patient man than I! Thanks for all the detail.
 
I find it works well on various eucalypts and Tasmanian blackwood. Also Australian red cedar, but that's not a great choice for knife handles.
Buy good stuff, I like Allback, the cheap linseed oil has too much crud in it and isn't nice to work with.
 
Britt_Askew said:
Miden I think what he means when saying wet sanded is to use a piece of sandpaper when putting the oil on, sanding the oil creates a slurry and a nice finished product
Click to expand...
Thank you, Britt_Askew, sounds interesting, I will try it.

Mike
 
Here is the problem with finishes like BLO on knife handles:

On a piece of furniture, or even a rifle stock, the finish is to protect the wood. It is a layer of cured natural oils and resins built up over the wood to cover it in a transparent layered surface that allows the woodgrain to show through. Wet sanding works the wood dust into the pores and seals the wood, making it look prettier and a bit more moisture resistant. This is a great surface for such items but is somewhat delicate. It can take weeks to build up a properly cured finish this way. Set a cold wet beer bottle on it or a scratch it by accident and you are re-doing the finish. The items that do best with this type of finish are ones that get little surface contact with things, especially wet and dirty things.

On a knife handle the opposite situation exists. The surface should be in contact with your hand almost fully and it will get wet, dirty, and banged up. On a knife you want the finish IN the wood, not ON it. Wet sanding an oil finish in repeatedly, letting it cure, and then sanding it almost completely off the surface will slowly make a durable and attractive handle. Using a more penetrating finish is a better choice than BLO. Using stabilized wood and wet sanding in a finish will make it look like glass and take wear and use even better.

To me personally, I do not like the look of a "varnished" knife handle with many coats of finish built up over the surface. I have never seen one that was used that stayed that way. But when one of my stabilized wood handles, or one with a worked in finish, gets worn by lots of heavy use and washing I simply give it a few strokes with some 800-grit paper and buff it with white/pink compound. It comes right back to a like-new shine. That is because the finish is IN the wood, not ON it.
 
Thanks Stacy E. Apelt. Some of Mora's woodcarving knives have birch handles with a linseed oil finish. The handles are not smooth. I suspect the linseed oil penetrates better for this reason. I observed in the past that linseed oil does not penetrate beech that has been sanded smooth. I suspect that the beech is burnished by the sanding and that this prevents the linseed oil from penetrating the wood.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top